The U.S. kelp aquaculture industry has experienced significant growth over the last 15 years. Given the potential for market saturation of edible seaweed, further growth of the industry might depend on finding additional revenue sources such as Payment for Ecosystem Services schemes and blue carbon markets. In order to receive proper compensation for the flows of ecosystem services from kelp farms (e.g., removal of nutrients and atmospheric CO2), it is imperative to develop methodologies and tools to assist farmers with the measurement of these flows.
As a major component of the Sea Grant project “Business and Economic Planning for Seaweed Aquaculture Systems in the U.S.”, a fully-interactive, user-friendly tool was designed which allows stakeholders (farmers, extension agents, etc.) to develop their own Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) for integrated kelp nursery-growout operations. The tool has two major components: 1) an Excel spreadsheet aimed at collecting basic production parameters and material input requirements for the model farm; and 2) a customized LCA model built within the open-source platform openLCA, which accesses data from the Excel spreadsheet to generate a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impact associated with the aquaculture operation, including the potential for bioremediation (i.e., N and P removal) and negative CO2 emissions. The LCA model relies on open-source process databases (USLCI and US Environmental Protection Agency/USEEIO) compiled by the U.S. government and made accessible through the Federal LCA Commons website. A major feature of the tool vis-à-vis commercial alternatives is its reliance on open-source platforms and databases as it allows users to develop state-of-the-art LCAs while avoiding interaction with expensive proprietary software.